J is for Judge or juror

"Sentence first- verdict afterwards” queen of hearts, Alice in wonderland.

We all have values and we’re all highly principled. But as long as we’re out of the box, never been tested on the true strength of our values, we will never know how truly principled we are.

Its easy to seat on the high horse of self-righteousness, residing as both judge and juror. A healthy extravagant dose every day. We hit the streets with our wigs and gavels, looking left and right, eager to charge someone to our court of ‘righteness’.
You don’t have to do much to be charged, we judge by appearances, by mistakes, by peoples past, by possessions, by height, by looks... always an opinion or two to air about everyother person but yourself, forgetting that someone somewhere is charging us in his or her own court. Like the queen, we give our sentence first, and regret it after we realize we were wrong, most times its already too late.

“be careful not to jump into conclusions before the lord returns as to whether or not someone is faithful. When the lord comes, he will bring our deepest secrets to light and will reveal our private motives. And then God will give to everyone whatever praise is due” 1 Corinthians 4:5

The very thing we’re ready to charge someone for is what we tolerate in others, or partake in sometimes or wished we could do but didn’t have the guts to. King David is the perfect example ..'David was furious. “As surely as the lord lives,” he vowed, “anyman who would do such a thing deserves to die! He must repay four lambs to the poor man for the one he stole and for having no pity.” Then Nathan said to David, “You are that man!”2 Samuel 12:5-7

We’re first to throw the stone, even when we know we’ve been guilty of some things we accuse of sometimes. Or maybe we just forget we’ve been through it before... that’s why we should look in the mirror to be sure there's no lipstick stain on our teeth before going around adjusting other peoples makeup. Quick to judge and we may just end up sentencing ourselves.

If the adulterous woman’s scene is played out today, someone would definitely damn Jesus words and cast the stone. And it’d be another woman, face covered up in modesty, on her way to church after creeping out of some married mans bed,not the one who paid her house rent, but the other one, the one who bought her the car shes driving, designer bag shes carrying and the phone she’ll use in calling her friends to spread the news of what ‘shola’ did, the bible shes holding and the well manicured hands she uses to pick the stones.

Because you see, everything is wrong as long as its someone else concerned.

Don’t try to judge people if you’ve never walked in their shoes. Don’t try to judge people before you get to know them. If you’re going to correct a mistake, which we should, then lets do it in love, knowing it could be you or someone close to you. We haven't earned the right to judge even if we're the holier than holy, its Gods grace that has kept you. Let God be the judge, he’s better at it.

photo source:pyschologytoday.com